A DISABLED woman was thrown out of Chester's Northgate Arena after she complained about staff failing to answer an assistance bell.

A DISABLED woman was thrown out of Chester's Northgate Arena after she complained about staff failing to answer an assistance bell.

Pensioner Ursula Lennon, of Dicksons Drive in Newton, Chester, is registered blind and often uses the swimming pool and facilities at the leisure centre in Victoria Road.

She admits she is 'a complainer' and on the day in question had complained yet again about staff not answering a 'call for assistance bell', which she says is extremely dangerous.

But Mrs Lennon, 66, was shocked when she was shouted at across the pool and told to leave the complex.

'It's a shambles,' she said. 'They have no right to do it, how dare they do that to people. Maybe if I had caused damage or something, but they haven't got one single reason for it.

'That day I complained again about them not answering the assistance bell, I am a complainer but not without reason.

'There is a great big notice which says 'Ring for assistance', but nobody ever answers it. And when I complain they say they're on a break or whatever, but it's not good enough.

'I have made the same complaint every day and nobody ever does anything about it.

'I am disabled, registered blind, and they discriminate against me. If I can't produce my card they're sharp with me. I do lose things, I can't help it, but my details are on the computer and they do know me very well. They're just being bloody-minded.

'The other thing I was complaining about was the state of the changing rooms. They have these grey boxes for clothes and they're never moved or tidied.

'But that day, last Friday, I was in the swimming pool and this awful man came to the side of the pool. It was very full and he was calling 'Mrs Lennon, Mrs Lennon', and I swam over to where he was and he said, 'you're barred, you're not welcome here'.

'He was so rude and I said to him, 'how dare you talk to me like that'. And when I went upstairs to use the sunbeds this awful woman from reception was up there and she said, 'You're not going in there, there's no way you're going in there, we have wiped you out of the system, you're barred.'

'You could tell she was relishing it.' Mrs Lennon contacted both the council and the centre mananger to complain about the way she was treated by the staff.

Northgate Arena manager John O'Neill met Mrs Lennon on Monday to try to rectify the problem.

'I went to meet Mr O'Neill,' said Mrs Lennon. 'And there he was, this very nice man waiting for me at the arena entrance, we went up to the meeting room. He was very apologetic and said I had been treated very badly.

'Mr O'Neill said of course the ban wasn't valid. I told him that all I wanted was to go back and swim in peace.'

On Wednesday morning, Mrs Lennon received a written apology from the Arena and free passes for the pool and sunbeds.

'The staff there are a very close knit little group, they think they're a law to themselves but they have no power to do this,' she said.

'These people have to be shown for who they are. I get the impression they are little bullies and the power has gone to their heads. They didn't know who they were dealing with when they picked on me.

'If more people complained and exposed these types then we would get better service and wouldn't have to put up with this kind of thing.'

Centre manager Mr O'Neill said it was a misunderstanding which has been rectified.

'There was a misunderstanding and we have resolved it amicably, it has all been resolved. I think Mrs Lennon intends to come for a swim tomorrow.'